The Thud in the Night
by Lyberated
Summary: But Chloe O'Brien was not one to be intimidated by bumps in the night." I had the thought that Chloe should try to kick more butt than she usually does. This is what eked out.


Numba one, I don't own **anything** from 24.

Numba two, I would love constructive critiscism. It was written for the purpose of my own entertainment as well as something to get me back in the swing of things, (I feel a bit rusty with this whole writing deal.)

Hope you enjoy the randomness.

* * *

She was laying on her bed, her i-pod playing quietly as she stared vacantly at the ceiling when she heard it; a soft, muffled thud. Frowning she hit pause and listened, willing her ears to hear even the slightest noise in her apartment.

A minute or two passed and she was about to write it off as something stupid like the traffic outside or the air conditioning, when it thudded again. She took a deep breath to calm herself and as she laid on her back goosebumps manifested themselves all over her body and her stomach sunk, scraping against her spine.

But Chloe O'Brien was not one to be intimidated by bumps in the night. She grit her teeth together and reached into the depths of her nightstand. Out came a hefty handgun, one she had hoped never to use, but had bought specifically for its bulk. If any terrorist were ludicrous enough to invade _her_ home, Chloe wanted to be sure that they would feel it when she uninvited them.

Checking to make sure it was loaded, she slipped off the bed. Cautiously, she peered out the door. The hair on her head rose up and her chin began to tremble involuntarily as it occurred to her that this was probably some inept thief who was most likely poking at her inestimable laptop at this very moment. Well, she thought, he picked the wrong house; _nobody _touched her laptop. Teeth grinding and eyes wide in the darkness, Chloe rounded the corner discovering the living room to be empty, one window wide open.

The thud came again from the kitchen and Chloe immediately turned to follow the noise. Sure enough, there stood a man in the darkness. His back was to her and he was rummaging through her cupboards in the dark. She had no idea what he was searching for, but he wasn't going to continue looking for long.

Chloe raised her gun and fired. Through the ringing in her hears she could have sworn she heard the man yell out, "Dammit, Chloe!" as only one man she knew of could.

Gun still trained on the intruder, Chloe reached for the lights. She stood blinking away the shock of the change in lighting, only to blink some more at the shock of seeing Jack Bauer holding onto his arm whilst sitting on her kitchen floor.

Chloe slowly lowered her gun and gasped. She took quick steps toward where he sat. Jack tried to reassure her, "It's alright, Chloe. Really. I've had....."

His voice trailed off, seeing she was paying absolutely no attention to him, but rather was stroking her refrigerator apologetically.

"-worse..." He finished for the sake of his own dignity.

"Look what you made me do!" She shouted at him, still running her fingers around the bullet hole in her frig. "Jack, what on earth were you doing in my apartment anyway?"

"I was-" he looked at the floor while explaining himself, but she cut him off.

"You **owe **me a new frig!" Scowled Chloe as she condescended to fling open a drawer and retrieve a dish towel. Kneeling in front of him, she pried his fingers away from his arm and applied the towel. "What did you say you were doing?"

"Getting some baking soda." He replied.

"WHAT?"

"I was baking and I was all out of baking soda. I knocked but-"

"You did **not **knock!" She would have heard him, she reasoned. "Why wouldn't you just go to the store?"

"I thought you'd be awake and your place is closer." He sighed. "When your lights weren't on I came in through the window. Sorry, I thought it wouldn't be a problem."

"Well, obviously, it is." The look on his face almost made her want to take that back, but she continued. "I could have killed you."

Jack smirked a little.

"Shut up." Chloe said menacingly, while hitting on his good arm. Jack tried no to smile as she took his hand and dragged it back to his arm to hold up the towel. She stepped away and began pacing. "I thought you were some extremist come to kill me in my sleep or some punk kid trying to jack my computer!"

"Nope. Just me." Grinned he, "Stealing your baking soda."

Chloe scoffed with a meager smile, "I don't have any baking soda."

Helping him up by the elbow, Chloe led Jack into her bathroom where they cleaned up his arm, which was just barely scratched. Chloe then sent him to WalMart and went back to bed, exhausted and grumbling at her clock as it clicked from 3:47 to 3:48.

The next morning at work, she discovered a small pile of oatmeal cookies placed on her desk. And though she immensely enjoyed eating them in front of her coworkers, she hoped that he didn't think this would get him out of buying her a new refrigerator.


End file.
